How SNF2000 combines a modern Laravel foundation with the structure of a personal technical workshop and a CDE-inspired desktop interface.
SNF2000 is a personal technical workshop for programming, retro hardware, restoration, research, and the work involved in building the site itself.
A modern system with an older visual language
Laravel provides the application structure, publishing workflow, administration tools, testing, and deployment foundation. The public interface borrows from late-1990s workstation desktops: distinct windows, beveled controls, visible navigation, compact status displays, and typography that reads like a technical archive.
The goal is not to pretend the site was made in 1998. It is to use that visual language deliberately while keeping the underlying system maintainable, accessible, and responsive.
What belongs here
Projects document active builds and restorations. Writings hold technical notes, essays, and research. Retro Computing organizes system-specific material, while the Archive Wire and Facility Weather feeds turn the desktop status area into a living index of the wider computing world.
This development log will record design decisions, implementation changes, and the practical lessons learned as SNF2000 grows.